Cost of living crisis.

[foxes1988]

28 minutes ago, Innovindil said:

I honestly want to see the logic behind interest rate rises right now. I don't understand how having higher interest rates will make people save more and lower inflation when the biggest driver of inflation is energy prices. It's not like everyone is spaffing money on stuff they don't need is it. 

Food, Energy and Fuel prices seem to be the biggest driving forces in pushing up inflation.  I can see them still using monetary policy of rising interest rates though as that's what western countries especially UK, USA tend to do to lower demand in the economy and inflation.  The alternatives tend to result in deeper recessions.

Edited 22 June 2022 by foxes1988

[fox_up_north]

Realistically, how long would it take for them to just start ploughing all that HS2 money into UK-based energy provision? 

 

Nobody is using HS2 in the way they envisioned, so take that £100 billion and put it into things people actually need - heating and electric. Surely they can get some sites up and running within 5 years? 

[foxes1988]

Whats everyone currently doing to save money?

 

Some of my current inflation fighting measures.

 

Got rid of one of our cars saving maintenance, fuel, tax and insurance.

Not upgrading my phone when it runs out and getting a sim only deal instead.

using the slow cooker and putting washing out on the line to avoid using the tumble dryer 

[SemperEadem]

14 minutes ago, foxes1988 said:

Whats everyone currently doing to save money?

 

Some of my current inflation fighting measures.

 

Got rid of one of our cars saving maintenance, fuel, tax and insurance.

Not upgrading my phone when it runs out and getting a sim only deal instead.

using the slow cooker and putting washing out on the line to avoid using the tumble dryer 

Cut back on eating out so much.

[grobyfox1990]

1 hour ago, Innovindil said:

I honestly want to see the logic behind interest rate rises right now. I don't understand how having higher interest rates will make people save more and lower inflation when the biggest driver of inflation is energy prices. It's not like everyone is spaffing money on stuff they don't need is it. 

Rising interest rates are the best tool policymakers have to take down inflation. If you keep interest rates static now, people will be tempted to borrow more in credit and take out bigger mtgs etc. plus we’re kind of ****3d with the amount of jobs going at the minute meaning firms are offering higher wages 

[Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo]

6 minutes ago, foxes1988 said:

Not upgrading my phone when it runs out and getting a sim only deal instead.

 

I really recommend Smarty - I pay £10 a month for unlimited calls, texts and 60GB of data per month. No contract, 5G enabled and they let me use my data abroad (12GB a month under fair use, £1 per extra GB thereafter)

 

Other cost saving measures for me have just been sensible things like driving less when possible (and driving more sensibly), sticking to my shopping list when I got to Aldi, ordering fewer takeaways etc - if you make good day-to-day habits you'll save more without thinking about it, like being mindful of switching off appliances/lights that you're not using. I recently ended my Amazon Prime membership after I realised I barely ordered anything from them in the last year and I hardly watch anything on Prime Video, so that's £8 a month back. I pay £15 a month to be in a union and now I'm questioning whether that's actually of value, when my job was earmarked for redundancy a couple of years back it was my line manager who saved my job (and he wasn't part of the union), the union rep was handy to talk to for basic advice but I found they didn't really get their hands dirty at all, just attended 1 or 2 video conferences as sort of visibility

[Innovindil]

28 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

Rising interest rates are the best tool policymakers have to take down inflation. If you keep interest rates static now, people will be tempted to borrow more in credit and take out bigger mtgs etc. plus we’re kind of ****3d with the amount of jobs going at the minute meaning firms are offering higher wages 

Which would make some sort of sense if they were going gung ho and slapping them up a few percent. But wouldn't nudging them up by 0.25% every time just make people panic buy/get loans now, knowing that interest rates will continue creeping up? 

 

I get the idea behind it. I just don't understand how it actually works. 

[foxes1988]

11 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

Rising interest rates are the best tool policymakers have to take down inflation. If you keep interest rates static now, people will be tempted to borrow more in credit and take out bigger mtgs etc. plus we’re kind of ****3d with the amount of jobs going at the minute meaning firms are offering higher wages 

Yeah this is the problem could easily overheat the economy. 

 

Inflation is being caused on the supply side rather then the demand side which makes it harder to tackle.  Usually big increases in the cost of one particular commodity such as say oil tend to sort themselves out as its usually down to one particular crisis causing one off prices increases so inflation is short term.  The concern with current supply led inflation is that its affecting food, energy, oil all at once and the prices have stayed high for a significant amount of time.  The main aim at the minute seems to be to reduce the demand in the economy to push down the supply costs so i reckon we might have to put up with this for a while yet 

 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but its been obvious for years that more of an effort should be made in switching away from gas and oil especially in electricity generation yet we've been way too slow to move on that and thats before we look at the climate change reasons for doing so.  Austeriy policy since 2010 and poor growth since the recession are massive failings that we are all still continuing to feel the affects of

[fox_up_north]

Turn everything off at the socket. Only thing left permanently running is wifi (as our security system is linked to it) and the fridge. Also don't be afraid to get candles or just one low wattage lamp that you move from room to room, in the evenings. 

 

I am very lucky in that I WFH and have no kids or pets. The car gets driven maybe once a week to an office but work cover the cost of petrol (to a point). Other than that, I am limiting my driving.

 

I wouldn't have thought it before but I think we'll see the likes of £2.50-3.50 per litre before the year is out. 

[Otis]

5 minutes ago, Innovindil said:

Which would make some sort of sense if they were going gung ho and slapping them up a few percent. But wouldn't nudging them up by 0.25% every time just make people panic buy/get loans now, knowing that interest rates will continue creeping up? 

 

I get the idea behind it. I just don't understand how it actually works. 

Raising IR increases the value of the pound. Therefore as a net importer we get more value for money. If we don't increase IR the pound drops in value and imports become even more expensive. 

[grobyfox1990]

20 minutes ago, Innovindil said:

Which would make some sort of sense if they were going gung ho and slapping them up a few percent. But wouldn't nudging them up by 0.25% every time just make people panic buy/get loans now, knowing that interest rates will continue creeping up? 

 

I get the idea behind it. I just don't understand how it actually works. 

The US are hiking in bigger increments, guess we may wait and see what the results over there are before we decide to hike bigger? I recall (may be wrong) the voting at the BoE meeting last Thursday showed members were still quite heavily for 0.25% increments. But then again they thought inflation would be ‘temporary’ so what do they know 

[grobyfox1990]

21 minutes ago, foxes1988 said:

Yeah this is the problem could easily overheat the economy. 

 

Inflation is being caused on the supply side rather then the demand side which makes it harder to tackle.  Usually big increases in the cost of one particular commodity such as say oil tend to sort themselves out as its usually down to one particular crisis causing one off prices increases so inflation is short term.  The concern with current supply led inflation is that its affecting food, energy, oil all at once and the prices have stayed high for a significant amount of time.  The main aim at the minute seems to be to reduce the demand in the economy to push down the supply costs so i reckon we might have to put up with this for a while yet 

 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but its been obvious for years that more of an effort should be made in switching away from gas and oil especially in electricity generation yet we've been way too slow to move on that and thats before we look at the climate change reasons for doing so.  Austeriy policy since 2010 and poor growth since the recession are massive failings that we are all still continuing to feel the affects of

Pretty much agree with all you’ve said and very succinctly put. On the last part, I don’t think it’s even hindsight! Business has been calling for greater incentives to green energy for years! The idiots in power don’t listen and have their own agenda of course 

[dsr-burnley]

39 minutes ago, fox_up_north said:

Turn everything off at the socket. Only thing left permanently running is wifi (as our security system is linked to it) and the fridge. Also don't be afraid to get candles or just one low wattage lamp that you move from room to room, in the evenings. 

 

I am very lucky in that I WFH and have no kids or pets. The car gets driven maybe once a week to an office but work cover the cost of petrol (to a point). Other than that, I am limiting my driving.

 

I wouldn't have thought it before but I think we'll see the likes of £2.50-3.50 per litre before the year is out. 

I think candles cost more than electric.

[Otis]

17 minutes ago, dsr-burnley said:

I think candles cost more than electric.

Quite. Running lights is peanuts. You need to look at high wattage items like showers, microwaves, kettles, ovens, toasters etc. Turning your tv off standby isn't going to save you much in the grand scheme of things. 

[Parafox]

8 hours ago, fox_up_north said:

Also don't be afraid to get candles or just one low wattage lamp that you move from room to room, in the evenings. 

 

 

 

7 hours ago, dsr-burnley said:

I think candles cost more than electric.

Unless you live oop north.

Maybe put a ferret in a hamster wheel attached to a dynamo... 

[Parafox]

9 hours ago, foxes1988 said:

putting washing out on the line to avoid using the tumble dryer 

It's summer, why would you use a tumble dryer? In the winter/less favourable weather, use an indoor airer placed next to a window if possible In winter pour heating will dry the clothes as well as heating your home. A window will amplify warmth if you have decent glazing and direct sunlight for a few hours. I guess we're fortunate in that we have a south facing bedroom that gets quite a lot of sun throughout the year.

 

 

 

[Free Falling Foxes]

8 hours ago, dsr-burnley said:

I think candles cost more than electric.

If I hear one more person suggest using candles!

Really gets on my wick.

[Kinowe Soorie]

2 minutes ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

If I hear one more person suggest using candles!

Really gets on my wick.

Don’t be such a melt

[Parafox]

8 hours ago, dsr-burnley said:

I think candles cost more than electric.

 

13 minutes ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

If I hear one more person suggest using candles!

Really gets on my wick.

 

10 minutes ago, Kinowe Soorie said:

Don’t be such a melt

I'm sure there's someone here that could wax lyrical on this.

[Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot]

CANDLE PUN. 

[fox_up_north]

To be fair, there is an optimum number of candles to use...

[Foxdiamond]

Not a fan of candles unless there is no power. There was a fire in the block of flat where I used to live  caused by unattended lit candle that fell over. 3 killed as a result.

[Spudulike]

11 hours ago, foxes1988 said:

Whats everyone currently doing to save money?

 

Some of my current inflation fighting measures.

 

Got rid of one of our cars saving maintenance, fuel, tax and insurance.

Not upgrading my phone when it runs out and getting a sim only deal instead.

using the slow cooker and putting washing out on the line to avoid using the tumble dryer 

I've not used any gas for the past 6 weeks as my boiler is currently outside in a skip! Getting fed up shaving in cold water though. 

 

I'm getting a new A rated boiler soon and I'm replacing kitchen appliances with the best energy saving rated kit that I can find available. 

 

I'm still undecided about fixing my energy tarrif, I've been offered one by British Gas as an existing customer. 

 

Martin Lewis has given an update... 

 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/-are-there-any-cheap--fixed-energy-deals-currently-worth-it--/

 

[jonthefox]

57 minutes ago, Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot said:

CANDLE PUN. 

There's always one that gets on my wick.

[RobHawk]

12 hours ago, foxes1988 said:

Yeah this is the problem could easily overheat the economy. 

 

Inflation is being caused on the supply side rather then the demand side which makes it harder to tackle.  Usually big increases in the cost of one particular commodity such as say oil tend to sort themselves out as its usually down to one particular crisis causing one off prices increases so inflation is short term.  The concern with current supply led inflation is that its affecting food, energy, oil all at once and the prices have stayed high for a significant amount of time.  The main aim at the minute seems to be to reduce the demand in the economy to push down the supply costs so i reckon we might have to put up with this for a while yet 

 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but its been obvious for years that more of an effort should be made in switching away from gas and oil especially in electricity generation yet we've been way too slow to move on that and thats before we look at the climate change reasons for doing so.  Austeriy policy since 2010 and poor growth since the recession are massive failings that we are all still continuing to feel the affects of

My misses used to work with a team of researchers who were tasked with looking at low carbon methods of energy. They were heavily involved in the Severn barrage and the tidal lagoon in Swansea, both which would have produced large amounts of green, renewable energy. Both were scrapped due to costs. 

 

I had a chat with one of the top guys involved and he couldn't believe the shortsightedness of the decision. It was a case of yes costs for these products is higher than ideal but these are the first of their kind in this country and could pave the way for dozens more projects. As with anything, the more you do it, the more you learn, the cheaper you can make it. 

 

Given the current costs of energy I bet the initial costs were nothing like what we are paying for now. Cameron and his shortsighted austerity politics really ****ed us up longterm, the results of which are now hitting home.